A little bit of this and a little bit of that

We started our Wednesday morning with yummy sausage biscuits. Thanks Kathy!

Then we drove to Bonaventure Cemetery. It was originally a plantation years ago and now many famous Georgians are buried there, including Johnny Mercer.

There were some really old burials and some unusual headstones.

Is this not a gorgeous setting?

This little girl, Gracie Watson, died of pneumonia in 1889 at the age of 6. This is one of the most photographed monuments in the cemetery.

Graves with a ‘ring’ around them were not Stacy’s favorite. Until we came across one that had flowers planted in the ring. Then she decided it wouldn’t be so bad if the ring had a purpose.

There were several graves for children. Too sad.

When we finished touring the cemetery, I got a call that my oldest nephew, Kolbee, was in the hospital. He was a sick little boy. Luckily he was released Friday afternoon. So this is a shout-out to Kolbee. I’m glad you’re feeling better!

Next we went to Wormsloe Plantation (1745), home of Noble Jones from the first Georgia settlers from England. There are only tabby ruins left. Tabby refers to a mixture of oyster shells, sand, lime and water. It makes very strong walls and used quite a bit in Savannah, including some streets.

The plantation is most famous for its Live Oak Avenue. If only we had a horse-drawn carriage….

Live oaks naturally twist and created this canopy. There were more than 400 trees planted by one of Noble Jones’ relatives in the late 1800s. Live oaks are called ‘live’ because they never completely loose all their leaves through the seasons.

The plantation is next to a marsh with an observation deck. It looked like really thick soupy mud with fields of grass. We decided to try an experiment to see if we could drop something and make it sink. We gathered sticks from the area and let the bombs fly. It failed miserably! We decided they weren’t heavy enough but no one was willing to walk in it to test out the ‘quicksand’ theory.

We drove to Leopold's for lunch.  We ordered sandwiches and it seemed to take forever to prepare.  Stacy had a great view of the food preparations and was giving us a play-by-play.  hee hee  And of course we had to get dessert afterwards.  We ate our ice cream cones and sundaes outside while people-watching.  It was lots of fun and the ice cream was yummy. 

After our refreshments, we were fortunate to partake of Stacy's Savannah Sightseeing.  There were several pictures we wanted to take that we couldn't get on a tour bus.  We had so much fun.  We kept repeating pieces of the tours we had heard over the past few days.  It was pretty amazing that we remembered where most things were and remembered quite a few facts.  Stacy showed her southern hospitality by letting other cars go past us.  Little did they know we just wanted them out of the way so we could go a little slower and enjoy the view.  We hopped in and out of the car quite a bit looking at houses and taking pictures.  Mandy rode shotgun while Stacy drove today.  Quite often Mandy would hit a button on her seat when she was getting back in the car.  That button would trigger the heating element in that seat to turn on.  It wasn't very long until her buns were getting warm.  We definitely did not need the warmth today!

We ended our day by going back to River Street and purchasing chocolates and candies at the Savannah Candy Kitchen.  Yum, yum, yum.  Now if we can only make it home with our goodies to share with our families.  :) 

I'm So Happy

Tuesday in Savannah was such fun.  We hopped the tour bus and took an 'on/off' trip around Savannah.  We had the whole tour yesterday afternoon so we knew where we wanted to get off and spend more time.

One of our stops was Forsyth Park.  This is where one of the most beautiful fountains in the world is located.  It's in the largest park in Savannah and surrounded by really beautiful live oak trees with hanging spanish moss. 

We caught a little old couple holding hands enjoying the fountain. So sweet...

Isn't that a beautiful sight? It was patterened after a fountain in Paris. Here we are enjoying the park.

We wandered around lots of the parks taking pictures of great architecture and wrought iron and enjoying the peacefulness of the surroundings.  Although there was traffic from the cars, it still held the most wonderful peaceful feeling around the squares.  Savannah has done a great job of restoring these parks and old houses.  Most of the dark red brick was made by slaves and is now worth lots of money.  You can't find brick to match it in color or texture.  The different examples of wrought iron on fences, gates, and window ledges is beautiful.

Patterned after Buckingham Palace in London

Unique owl-like window

Wrought iron centerpiece on stairwell

AMAZING entryway to a gorgeous house

Such detail!

Pelican post - notice the webbed feet at the bottom.

On another trip on the bus, we came around the corner where 'the bench' was located during the movie and guess who we saw? 

It's Forrest Gump!  Complete with the plaid shirt, Nike tennis shoes, baseball cap, beat up luggage.  This actor was great.  He had the mannerisms and speech down pat, including the 'not quite hand wave.'  He carried on a hilarious conversation with the bus driver and the passengers, including praising 'that Tom Hanks guy did a good job playing him in that movie.'  When we passed by the location where the bench had been when Forrest found the floating feather, he made mention of it.  And then when we got to the corner, he mentioned that he had to find Lt. Dan.  So he got off the bus and we saw Forrest 'running' to find Lt. Dan!  It was absolutely hilarious.  We had taken this same tour the day before without seeing FG so we were shocked when this happened.  (As Forrest was running, our bus driver turned another corner and Mandy and Stacy who were sitting in the very back of the bus saw him clip a car's bumper.  The bus driver never even noticed.  That's what bumpers are for.  I'd hate to drive one of those things around those narrow streets with cars parked on both sides.)

Later that day, we had reservations at the Lady and Sons, Paula Deen's restaurant.  We first stopped at the City Market and had time before our reservations.  After looking around the City Market area (lots of restaurants, boutiques, and art galleries) we traveled down Congress Street and shopped at the PD store and then waited for our names to be called.  We were ready to "Put some South in your Mouth!" 

Note the 'skillets' in the wrought iron gate entrance.

The restaurant is three stories tall.  We dined on the third floor.  As soon as we sat down, we were brought warm cheddar biscuits and hoecake.  Hoecake is like a pan-fried cornbread/pancake mix.  It was unbelievably DIVINE!!!!!!  I've found a new fave food.

We chose to eat a salad and buffet.  The food was more than delicious.  I could feel my cholesterol rising with every bite.  I even tried collard greens and they weren't bad!  The corn was so fresh and butter beans are my favorite.

Is your mouth watering yet?  We had to save a little room for dessert.  Kathy had the brownie, I had the peach cobbler and Mandy had the banana pudding. 

Stacy told our waiter (Tatoo John) that she wanted all three.  He said no one has ever asked him that before.  If you know Stacy, she's not shy about her sweets.  After he left, she told us 'He thinks I'm joking.  I'm not, I'm serious!'  We just bust out laughing because she had such a serious face.  She then told us if he brought her some of all three, she would be a happy woman and get a bigger tip.  Well...when he brought our desserts, he had thirded all three desserts and gave her a piece of each as well as a full peach cobbler.  She was in heaven!  Tatoo John was so fun.  He DID get an extra large tip that day.

After our late lunch we got back on the bus.  Several times that day, we happened to get the same bus driver.  He called us the 'Caintuck' (KY) girls.  He was funny and different than Angel from the day before.  He told us why lots of the houses had two separate staircases to the main entrance - one for the ladies and the other for the men.  It was improper for men to see ladies' ankles.  The ladies had to lift their skirts and hoops to ascend the stairs.  The bus driver wondered why ANY man would ever lust over some sweaty ankles.

We toured the Isaiah Davenport house built in 1820.  We didn't realize until later that we couldn't take pics inside.  Bummer.  They had a realy neat cantilever staircase and we couldn't find any postcards of it either.  If you are interested, check out the link to see it.  This house was scheduled to be torn down for a parking lot in the 1950s.  That's when a group of ladies got together and raised $22,500 to purchase the house.  It was later restored.  This restoration started the restoration movement in Savannah. 

By now it was getting cold and starting to drizzle.  We were huddled together on the bus and ready to go back to the condo.  Our bellies were full of good food and we were cold and tired.  We went back to the condo and watched tv, read books, and some of us took a little nap.  That's right - we pooped out at 4pm that day. 

But it was a GREAT DAY!!!!!